Daniel Patterson of Coi is banking on the former, because as Eater notes, Coi will be following in the footsteps of Chicago’s Alinea, Chicago’s Elizabeth and Los Angeles’ Trois Mec — and selling tickets for his 12-course tasting menu dinners, starting in September.

Dinner tickets are something that Saison flirted with two years ago; for the restaurant, the major benefit is that prepaid tickets reduce the number of no-shows and at least in theory, help boost the number of off-peak reservations. The restaurant also doesn’t have to pay for the pricey OpenTable service, though the lack of OpenTable presence might also be a drawback.

For diners, the system may be appealing due to dynamic pricing: tickets are cheaper during weeknights. (NB: Places like Chez Panisse have offered dynamic pricing for years.) So at Coi, the entry dinner price will range from $145 to $195. The current dinner price is $195 everyday. Many diners also appreciate a system where no payment needs to be considered at the restaurant, since everything is pre-paid.

The Coi restaurant website has a pretty thorough breakdown of their process, and how things like ticket transfers will work. Patterson will be using Nick Kokonas’ ticketing system; see this May interview with Kokonas for more on his little pet project.

Here is a walk-through of what happens once you open a reservation account on the Coi website.

First, choose a day; you’ll notice that pricing varies based on both day, time and party size. Here is a sample weeknight:

And just like the Giants raise prices when the Dodgers come to town, Coi’s prices bump up when Saturday is considered:

Once you select your desired time and date, you choose from one of three beverage options (though it should be noted that you can also decide this step while dining):

The next step is the final step: The complete damage, which adds everything up, plus tax and automatic gratuity.

This is the cheapest end for a dinner for two: A weeknight $145 early dinner with no wine pairings comes in at $372.14.

… And here is the most you can spend. A Saturday night dinner with the Coravin wine pairings clocks in at $1142.09:

San Francisco diners: What do you think? Do you dig this system? Want to see it implemented elsewhere? Share your thoughts in the comments.